AMEND by inserting the following new section after line 96 and
renumbering any succeeding section(s):

SECTION
*. Chapter 534, Laws of 1998, is
amended as follows:

Section 1.
As used in this act, the following words shall have the meanings
ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a)
"Accreted value" of any bond means, as of any date of
computation, an amount equal to the sum of (i) the stated initial value of such
bond, plus (ii) the interest accrued thereon from the issue date to the date of
computation at the rate, compounded semiannually, that is necessary to produce
the approximate yield to maturity shown for bonds of the same maturity.

(b)
"State" means the State of Mississippi.

(c)
"Commission" means the State Bond Commission.

Section 2.
(1) A special fund, to be
designated the "1998 Port of Pascagoula Improvement Fund," is created
within the State Treasury. The fund
shall be maintained by the State Treasurer as a separate and special fund,
separate and apart from the General Fund of the state, and investment earnings
on amounts in the fund shall be deposited into such fund. The expenditure of monies deposited into the
fund shall be under the direction of the Department of Finance and
Administration, and such funds shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon
warrants issued by the Department of Finance and Administration. Monies deposited into such fund shall be
allocated and disbursed according to the provisions of this act.

(2)
Monies deposited into the fund shall be disbursed to pay the costs of
the following improvements at the Port of Pascagoula:

(a)
Construction of and mitigation for an appropriate site to manage dredge
material;

(b)
Dredging and otherwise improving the shipping channel of the Port of Pascagoula; * * *

(c)
Closure of an existing contaminated dredge material placement site on an
island owned by the Port of Pascagoula known as Greenwood Island; and

(d) Removal of dredged material from an existing dredged material
management site in order to provide additional capacity at the site.

Section 3.
(1) The Department of Finance
and Administration, at one time or from time to time, may declare by resolution
the necessity for issuance of general obligation bonds of the State of
Mississippi to provide funds for all costs incurred or to be incurred for the
purposes described in Section 2 of this act.
Upon the adoption of a resolution by the Department of Finance and
Administration declaring the necessity for the issuance of any part or all of
the general obligation bonds authorized by this section, the Department of
Finance and Administration shall deliver a certified copy of its resolution or
resolutions to the State Bond Commission.
Upon receipt of such resolution the commission, in its discretion, may
act as the issuing agent, prescribe the form of the bonds, advertise for and
accept bids, issue and sell the bonds so authorized to be sold, and do any and
all other things necessary and advisable in connection with the issuance and
sale of such bonds. The amount of bonds
issued under this act shall not exceed Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000.00).

(2)
Any investment earnings on amounts deposited into the 1998 Port of
Pascagoula Improvement Fund created in Section 2 of this act shall be used to
pay debt service on bonds issued under this act, in accordance with the
proceedings authorizing issuance of such bonds.

(3)
Upon the completion or abandonment of the projects described in Section
2 of this act, as evidenced by a resolution adopted by the Department of
Finance and Administration certifying that all such projects have been
completed or abandoned, the balance, if any, remaining in the 1998 Port of
Pascagoula Improvement Fund shall be promptly applied to pay debt service on
bonds issued under this act, in accordance with the proceedings authorizing the
issuance of such bonds.

Section 4. The principal of and interest on the bonds authorized under
this act shall be payable in the manner provided in this section. Such bonds shall bear such date or dates, be
in such denomination or denominations, bear interest at such rate or rates (not
to exceed the limits set forth in Section 75-17-101), be payable at such place
or places within or without the State of Mississippi, shall mature absolutely
at such time or times not to exceed twenty-five (25) years from date of issue,
be redeemable before maturity at such time or times and upon such terms, with
or without premium, shall bear such registration privileges, and shall be
substantially in such form, all as shall be determined by resolution of the
commission.

Section 5.
The bonds authorized by this act shall be signed by the Chairman of the
State Bond Commission, or by his facsimile signature, and the official seal of
the commission shall be affixed thereto, attested by the secretary of the
commission. The interest coupons, if
any, to be attached to such bonds may be executed by the facsimile signatures
of such officers. Whenever any such
bonds shall have been signed by the officials designated to sign the bonds who
were in office at the time of such signing but who may have ceased to be such
officers before the sale and delivery of such bonds, or who may not have been
in office on the date such bonds may bear, the signatures of such officers upon
such bonds and coupons shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all
purposes and have the same effect as if the person so officially signing such
bonds had remained in office until their delivery to the purchaser, or had been
in office on the date such bonds may bear.
However, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, such bonds may
be issued as provided in the Registered Bond Act of the State of Mississippi.

Section 6.
All bonds and interest coupons issued under the provisions of this act
have all the qualities and incidents of negotiable instruments under the
provisions of the Mississippi Uniform Commercial Code, and in exercising the
powers granted by this act, the commission shall not be required to and need
not comply with the provisions of the Mississippi Uniform Commercial Code.

Section 7. The commission shall act as the issuing agent for the bonds
authorized under this act, prescribe the form of the bonds, advertise for and
accept bids, issue and sell the bonds so authorized to be sold, pay all fees
and costs incurred in such issuance and sale, and do any and all other things
necessary and advisable in connection with the issuance and sale of such
bonds. The commission is authorized and
empowered to pay the costs that are incident to the sale, issuance and delivery
of the bonds authorized under this act from the proceeds derived from the sale
of such bonds. The commission shall
sell such bonds on sealed bids at public sale, and for such price as it may
determine to be for the best interest of the State of Mississippi, but no such
sale shall be made at a price less than par plus accrued interest to the date
of delivery of the bonds to the purchaser.
All interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable
semiannually or annually; however, the first interest payment may be for any
period of not more than one (1) year.

Notice of the sale of any such bonds shall
be published at least one time, not less than ten (10) days before the date of
sale, and shall be so published in one or more newspapers published or having a
general circulation in the City of Jackson, Mississippi, and in one or more
other newspapers or financial journals with a national circulation, to be
selected by the commission.

The commission, when issuing any bonds
under the authority of this act, may provide that bonds, at the option of the
State of Mississippi, may be called in for payment and redemption at the call
price named therein and accrued interest on such date or dates named therein.

Section 8. The bonds issued under the provisions of this act are general
obligations of the State of Mississippi, and for the payment thereof the full
faith and credit of the State of Mississippi is irrevocably pledged. If the funds appropriated by the Legislature
are insufficient to pay the principal of and the interest on such bonds as they
become due, then the deficiency shall be paid by the State Treasurer from any
funds in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated. All such bonds shall contain recitals on
their faces substantially covering the provisions of this section.

Section 9.
Upon the issuance and sale of bonds under the provisions of this act,
the commission shall transfer the proceeds of any such sale or sales to the
1998 Port of Pascagoula Improvement Fund created in Section 2 of this act. The proceeds of such bonds shall be
disbursed solely upon the order of the Department of Finance and Administration
under such restrictions, if any, as may be contained in the resolution
providing for the issuance of the bonds.

Section 10. The bonds authorized under this act may be issued without any
other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things other than
those proceedings, conditions and things which are specified or required by
this act. Any resolution providing for
the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this act shall become effective
immediately upon its adoption by the commission, and any such resolution may be
adopted at any regular or special meeting of the commission by a majority of
its members.

Section 11. The bonds authorized under the authority of this act may be
validated in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County,
Mississippi, in the manner and with the force and effect provided by Chapter
13, Title 31, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the validation of county,
municipal, school district and other bonds.
The notice to taxpayers required by such statutes shall be published in
a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the City of Jackson,
Mississippi.

Section 12. Any holder of bonds issued under the provisions of this act or of
any of the interest coupons pertaining thereto may, either at law or in equity,
by suit, action, mandamus or other proceeding, protect and enforce any and all
rights granted under this act, or under such resolution, and may enforce and
compel performance of all duties required by this act to be performed, in order
to provide for the payment of bonds and interest thereon.

Section 13. All bonds issued under the provisions of this act shall be legal
investments for trustees and other fiduciaries, and for savings banks, trust
companies and insurance companies organized under the laws of the State of
Mississippi, and such bonds shall be legal securities which may be deposited
with and shall be received by all public officers and bodies of this state and
all municipalities and political subdivisions for the purpose of securing the
deposit of public funds.

Section 14. Bonds issued under the provisions of this act and income
therefrom shall be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi.

Section 15. The proceeds of the bonds issued under this act shall be used
solely for the purposes herein provided, including the costs incident to the
issuance and sale of such bonds.

Section 16. The State Treasurer is authorized, without further process of
law, to certify to the Department of Finance and Administration the necessity
for warrants, and the Department of Finance and Administration is authorized
and directed to issue such warrants, in such amounts as may be necessary to pay
when due the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on, or the accreted
value of, all bonds issued under this act; and the State Treasurer shall
forward the necessary amount to the designated place or places of payment of
such bonds in ample time to discharge such bonds, or the interest thereon, on
the due dates thereof.

Section 17. The provisions of this act shall be deemed
to be full and complete authority for the exercise of the powers therein
granted, but this act shall not be deemed to repeal or to be in derogation of
any existing law of this state.

FURTHER, AMEND the title
on line 9 by inserting after the semicolon the following:

TO AMEND CHAPTER 534, LAWS OF 1998, TO AUTHORIZE GENERAL OBLIGATION
BONDS ISSUED FOR CERTAIN WORK AT THE PORT OF PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI, TO BE
UTILIZED FOR CERTAIN ADDITIONAL PURPOSES;